First time marijuana use will lead to harder drugs, creates health risks including HIV.

Earleywine, M. (2004). Marijuana Is Not a Gateway to Other Addictive Drugs.

Most marijuana users do not touch hard drugs.

First time marijuana use does not mean an individual will use harder drugs because people will use whatever drug is available when they are ready to experiment. According to data from the 2000 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 14 million Americans smoke pot currently. Although data from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey coincided with NHSDA results of long-term abuse trends and showed youth between the ages of 12 – 17 account for 2/3 of new pot smokers, these surveys also state that very little data available about first time marijuana use. The 2001 NHSDA report showed 83 million Americans who tried marijuana first never used heroin. Additionally, another survey indicates 39% of substance abusers started with a drug other than marijuana.

The first article claims first time marijuana usage could have impact on future substance abuse treatment and the earlier the person is who starts has the potential to contract HIV as well as have developmental challenges that would hinder finding a job. Whereas, the second article claims minimal hard drug usage after trying marijuana and the possibility that teens will begin to sniff glue once they realize the lies. While using statistics is a good way to get a fact-based point across, the creator tends to lean the stats in favor in order to make the point, as in the first article. In this case, the article is full of stats along with possible negative causes and effects of using marijuana for the...

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

...Paper
Marijuana as a GatewayDrug
The gateway theory is a hypothesis which states that the use of gatewaydrugs (alcohol, tobacco and marijuana) lead to the use of more illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), marijuana is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act. “Schedule I drugs are classified as having a high potential for abuse, no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.” Marijuana is thus considered by the U.S. government to be more dangerous than cocaine and opium - both Schedule II drugs, and at the same time a gateway to these harder and more addictive drugs. The government’s position is not only paradoxical, but should be a reason for debate as to the credibility of the gateway theory. A detailed look is warranted because of the magnitude it has on affecting U.S. drug policy.
According to the “Reassessing the marijuanagateway effect” article, there are three phenomena which represent the evidence for a marijuanagateway effect. The first is “the relative risk...

...Question: Is Marijuana a GatewayDrug?
My best friend who is a cancer patient left Austin a few years ago but still comes home for the holidays. Her mom found, on a recent visit an ashtray full of marijuana roaches under her bed. I'm not too worried about marijuana, as it is a soft drug, but I'm concerned that it will lead to hard drugs, and my friend may become an addict. Is it true that marijuana leads to other drug use?
Answer:
Marijuana, also known as cannabis or weed, is the most commonly used -- and abused -- illicit drug. It is often thought of as a "soft drug," with proponents claiming that it is non-addictive and relatively harmless, particularly when compared with the much more available and socially acceptable drugs, alcohol and nicotine.
What is a "GatewayDrug?"
The gatewaydrug theory states that "soft drugs," such as marijuana, provide an apparently safe psychoactive experience that makes naive users more open to experimenting with other illicit drugs. Because most people who develop severe problems with drugs, such as cocaine, meth, and heroin, had early experiences with marijuana before trying these other drugs, and...

...Marijuana as a GatewayDrug: The Causal Fallacy
The marijuana plant, perhaps the most widely-used illicit drug in the world, was once demonized by authorities and the media. In the 1936 film Marijuana: Weed with Roots in Hell, director Dwain Esper portrayed teens smoking marijuana and then engaging in perceived evils such as nude bathing and unchaperoned partying, with one girl becoming pregnant. The film went on to further depict the characters becoming addicted to marijuana and committing serious crimes including a police shootout and kidnapping for ransom. These claims are based on the type of faulty casual analysis that has given rise to anti-marijuana myths that have endured over the years, but they are fortunately starting to abate. While the Western world has lightened up, some misconceptions persist, particularly those based on casual fallacy. An example of such a fallacy can be found in the argument that marijuana is a “gatewaydrug” which causes users to eventually progress to hard drugs, when that’s not actually the case.
The correlation between marijuana and other illegal substances is not in dispute, nor is the chronology in that marijuana use typically precedes other drug use. Studies show that a hard drug users’ first...

...﻿Marijuana
The use of marijuana for medicinal and recreational purposes dates back as early as 2700 B.C. when the Chinese used it as a treatment for malaria, arthritis, and as an analgesic and general anesthesia. There is also recorded use of the plant medicinally in the Indian Atharvaveda from 2000 B.C. More recently, and more specific to the United States, the Jamestown settlers cultivated marijuana crops for hemp fibers. Physicians began prescribing marijuana as a pain reliever and anticonvulsant in the 19th century following the work of William O'Shaughnessy in India. The use of marijuana in the United States as a purely recreational drug began in the 1920’s, likely as a replacement for alcohol which had become unavailable due to Prohibition. It is believed to have been brought north by Mexican immigrants and quickly became popular with rivermen, laborers, and jazz musicians in New Orleans and then moved north along the Mississippi river. In 1907 the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed and cannabis was considered a toxin and required to be labeled as a poison. It wasn’t until 1937 with the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act that marijuana became federally illegal in the United States. The sale or possession of cannabis required a stamp that was not available to the public. This was chiefly as a result of the belief that “marijuana...

...tough debate whether Marijuana is a gatewaydrug or not. It also has been questioned whether it is addictive or not. Marijuana is a gatewaydrug to more addictive and severe substances that is causing a harmful impact on the way a person develops. Legalization of marijuana has made it easier to obtain and because of this, more and more people are falling into this trap. The legalization of marijuana needs to be brought to an end. There has been substantial research which provides information on how Marijuana is not addicting itself, but the way it makes you feel can be the breaking point to trying other addictive drugs. Research shows, adults who are addicts admit their first time of use and first drug of choice was when they were an adolescent and smoked Marijuana. Until today, many argue for or against legalizing marijuana throughout the United States, and it is still a struggle for some to overcome.
As of 2011, Marijuana became legal in 16 States in the United States (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP, 2013), there has been increasing efforts to legalize marijuana which can cause marijuana to drop in price and increase the use of the drug (ONDCP, 2013); keeping it...

...Argumentative Essay
April 6, 2012
Drug addiction is a serious illness that affects millions of Americans every day. We all have someone we know or maybe family member that are suffering from one of many drug addictions.
One of the drugs that people are fighting to legalize is marijuana. I am totally against legalizing marijuana because marijuana is a gate way to other drug addictions. My mother was alcoholic and my father used every type of drug one can name. I am seventh child of nine children, seven being boys and two girls. All of my brothers suffer from a different type of drug abuse. After watching several family members suffer from drug and alcohol abuse my sister and I made an oath that we would not use drugs because we have seen firsthand what drugs can do to a person’s body and mind. I have tried to talk to each of my brothers to find out why they use drugs. Basically all of them gave the same answer except one. Drugs helped them through difficult times or it makes them feel good at that moment. The second oldest brother Tyrone said that marijuana helps his glaucoma condition. So, I decided to try marijuana because all my brothers were doing it, so when I turn 15 years old my brother convinced me to smoke a...

...GatewayDrugs and Common Drug Abuse
The oldest known written record of drug use is a clay tablet from the ancient Sumerian civilization of the Middle East. This tablet, made in the 2000's B.C., lists about a dozen drug prescriptions. An Egyptian scroll from bout 1550 B.C. names more than 800 prescriptions containing about 700 drugs. The ancient Chinese, Greek and Romans also used many drugs. The Greeks and Romans used opium to relieve pain. The Egyptians used castor oil as a laxative. The Chinese ate liver to cure anemia.
In the 1500,s and 1600's, doctors and scientists made important advances in Pharmacology and in other fields of science. In the early 1500's, Swiss physician Philippus Paracelsus pioneered in the use of minerals as drugs. He introduces many compounds of lead, mercury and other minerals in the treatment of other diseases.
Gatewaydrugs are substances that people take which, in many cases, lead to those people taking more drugs. Alcohol and pot are the most obvious gatewaydrugs. Studies show that if you smoke pot, you're more likely to try things like crystal meth or cocaine or heroin. Many people see alcohol and pot as less dangerous and harmful than other drugs, but the truth is, they are just as dangerous as any other drug in more ways...

...The Gateway to Marijuana Legalization
As the subject of many debates, the legalization of marijuana in the U.S. has sparked many controversial conversations ranging from the effect on learning to the medicinal uses of the plant. To finally put an end to this argument, Cannabis Sativa should absolutely be legalized, taxed, and definitely used for medicinal purposes. The laws today are immoral and are a waste of time, money and resources. Thinking within a utilitarian mindset, the ideals behind weed being illegal are not only immoral, they are not logical. A utilitarian can see the many uses that outweigh the consequences which are mainly based on the illegality of carrying, using, and growing marijuana. When the ultimate goal of a society is the success of the society itself, changing a law that has a reasonable alternative is an example of one of the many building blocks for a better life for the people. Documented evidence of marijuana use dates back to 500AD when mentioned in the Jewish sacred text (the Talmud). Hemp has been used in many facets in the past and is still used today. The DEA Museum has a collection of antique medicine bottles containing cannabis that were used in the 1800s. In California, Proposition 19 (legalization of marijuana for personal use monitored by local governments) is still debated and currently has not been approved. Many believe that treating...